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you have two years from the date of the accident to sign the insurance settlement and release them from any further claims. If you do not sign the settlement by then, the insurance company pays you nothing, and you have no recourse.

We found out the hard way when my husband was involved in a multi-car accident. The insurance company was great paying us a fair price for our totaled car, but they said we could not settle the personal injury claim until my husband finished all of his medical treatment.

Well, he suffered concussion symptoms for almost a year, and it took 1 1/2 years before the neurologist and pain management specialist knew what long-term effects the accident would have on my husband. So, 18 months after the accident, we sent all of the required copies of medical bills, W2s, and medical reports from all of the doctors and hospital, and then waited to see what their offer would be.

Well, they waited 30 days before sending us a settlement for only $4,000, even though the medical bills alone were $30,000 and loss of wages was $7,000. So, we turned down their offer and told them what we felt a fair offer would be. They never responded back. Two weeks before the 2 year deadline, our insurance company let us know that we had to settle or we would get nothing. So we notified the other insurance company that we would accept their offer, and they delayed mailing us the form to sign until the very last day it was due. So my husband drove to their office and signed a form there instead, since we had not yet received their form.

Had someone told us in advance that there was a 2-year time limit, we would have handled things much differently. As a result, even though the accident was not our fault, we ended up being out over $25,000. We still haven't recovered yet, and the accident was three years ago.

As a result, we have increased our auto insurance medical payments coverage to $50,000, and if we ever have another accident with medical bills, we will file with our insurance company and let them deal with the other insurance company.